– Minister Anthony

DELIVERING a fiery contribution in defence of Budget 2022, including the $73.2 billion allocation to health ministry, subject minister, Dr Frank Anthony, had cause to set the record straight against claims made by shadow health minister, Dr Karen Cummings, on Thursday.

Dr Cummings had questioned whether it is advisable for parliament to increase the Ministry of Health’s budget by 36.8 per cent from the previous year.

Responding to the claims made by Dr Cummings, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, declared that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government gave the largest single allocation of resources to the sector in the history of the country.

He expressed shock at the position of the former Health Minister whom, he said, praised lesser figures allocated to the health sector between 2015 to 2019 as compared to 2022.

Public/Private Partnership
Dr Cummings called into question the ministry’s capacity to engage in public/private partnerships (PPPs), a key feature of the government’s programme as it hopes, among other things, to transform the health sector into an export service through medical tourism.

Dr Anthony said that despite the claims made by the shadow health minister, “she didn’t realise that we had a Public/Private Partnership with CHI, the Caribbean Heart Institute.”

“Under this government, we have been able to increase cardiac surgeries for patients who need cardiac surgeries,” Dr Anthony added further.
Turning his attention to dialysis treatment as another example of PPPs, Dr Anthony said these are done at non-governmental organisations and private sector partners. “We are going to partner with them to ensure this service is delivered to every single dialysis patient,” the Health Minister added, as he went on to plug the government’s financial support programme of $600,000 per year for each person needing dialysis treatment in Guyana.

Hospitals
Turning her attention to additional regional hospitals, Dr Cummings urged these must be built in areas where they provide access to care with minimum geographic hardships.

She expressed uncertainty on why regional hospitals were proposed to be located in Anna Regina, Region Two; Tuschen, Region Three; Enmore, Region Four; Bath Settlement, Region Six; and No. 75 Village, Region Six.

She called for evidence which justifies the selection of the proposed sites for regional hospitals.
Angered by the race-based reference, Dr Anthony said with the six new proposed hospitals, the first will be in Anna Regina, which is the most populated area in Region Two.

In region Three, Dr Anthony continued, the regional hospital was chosen because of the concentration of the population in areas like Tuschen and Parika.

“That is why we are going to put a hospital at DeKinderen. We looked hard to find land and that’s where government land is located, so we are going to put the hospital there, and we make no apologies for that,” Dr Anthony emphasised.

Dr Anthony said Georgetown Hospital should remain a national referral hospital which warrants the establishment of two additional regional hospitals at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD), and Enmore on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

Mental Health
On mental health, Dr Cummings said 10 to 15 per cent of Guyanese have experienced some form of mental illness at one time, with three to five per cent having a chronic mental disorder.

She challenged the more than $538 million allocated to mental health support in Budget 2022 as insufficient.
Recounting the less-than-favourable performance in mental health under Dr Cummings as health minister, Dr Anthony said the APNU+AFC government’s approach was highly centralised to Georgetown, while outreaches were not done in the regions.

“If we are really going to have an impact on suicide, we have to decentralise the response to make sure that we are closer to where the problem exists, and that is what we are going to do, not the centralised business that they had,” Dr Anthony admonished.

Dr Anthony said two bits of legislation dealing with suicide prevention and mental health services will soon be brought to the National Assembly.

Recounting the international partnerships which his ministry had undertaken, Dr Anthony said a partnership currently exists with Columbia University in the City of New York who will continue to work with the government of Guyana to provide technical support and advice in mental health and psychiatry.